ERC Proof of Concept Grant for Developing ReproTox
Professor Susana Chuva de Sousa Lopes at the Leiden University Medical Center partnered with Toxys and received a European Research Council Proof of Concept grant for developing ReproTox. This novel human stem cell-based assay will enable screening chemicals and environmental factors for their potential toxic effects on male fertility.
Current approaches for reproductive toxicity testing rely heavily on animal experiments. These are often time-consuming, expensive and the translation of results to humans can pose limitations. Since a significant number of animals are needed for these tests, a strategy based on a reliable first-tier in vitro assay not only promises improved human-relevant results, but also provides adherence to 3Rs principles.
A validation of ReproTox with FDA-approved compounds toxic for male reproduction together with machine learning algorithms will allow the initial optimization for scalability, standardization and throughput.
About Prof. Susana Chuva de Sousa Lopes
Susana Chuva de Sousa Lopes is Professor of Developmental Biology in the Department of Anatomy and Embryology at the Leiden University Medical Center. She is also a visiting professor at Ghent University Hospital, Belgium. She is immediate past coordinator of the special interest group “Stem Cells” in the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). She was awarded a VENI (2006) and a VICI (2019) research grant from NWO/ZonMW and an ERC consolidator (2016) research grant from the EC. She coordinates the ZonMW PSIDER consortium HipGametes and is PI in the international Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine reNEW. She has also received an Aspasia premium twice and the Snoo – van ‘t Hoogerhuijs Foundation prize twice.
About Toxys
Toxys is a Dutch biotech company that offers a broad spectrum of innovative in vitro toxicology solutions. It was founded in 2014 as a spin-off from the Leiden University Medical Center and has its state-of-the-art laboratory facilities located at the Leiden Bio Science Park. With expertise in toxicological research, Toxys is on a mission to improve animal-free safety testing by developing mechanistic in vitro chemical safety tests to meet the needs for safer medicines, chemicals and cosmetics. Toxys has developed the unique ToxTracker® and ReproTracker® assays for genotoxicity and developmental toxicity testing.
